MOSCOW REGION, RUSSIA – JUNE 25, 2019: A ZALA Lancet-3 attack drone developed by Kalashnikov Concern on display at the Army 2019 International Military Technical Forum at Patriot Park. Marina Lystseva/TASS
Russia’s Rubikon advanced unmanned technology center published on September 10 video footage showing a strike on a Soviet-era Antonov An-2 utility plane that was apparently being used by Kiev forces as a drone hunter.
The plane was targeted while on the ground with a Lancet loitering munition. The strike took place somewhere in the special military operation zone.
The Lancet was developed by the ZALA Aero Group, a subsidiary of Russia’s defense giant Kalashnikov Concern. The company produces two versions of the loitering munition, the Izdeliye-52 with an endurance of 30 minutes and a one-kilogram warhead and the larger Izdeliye-51 that has an endurance of 40 minutes and is armed with a warhead weighing three kilograms.
The Lancet flies towards the designated area with a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system. After arriving in the area, the operator utilizes an onboard electro-optical system via a two-way data-link to detect, track and lock on the target. A laser-ranging system then controls the detonation of the warhead.
The loitering munition recently received an upgrade enabling artificial intelligence capabilities for both navigation and targeting.
The Civil Air Patrol of Ukraine, an organization that consists mainly of amateur aviators and private aircraft owners, have been using Soviet-era Yakovlev Yak-52 trainer planes to intercept drones in coordination with Kiev forces.
The use of the An-2 for the same role was first reported in May, when a Russian strike destroyed several such planes at a small airfield, some 11 kilometers to the north of the settlement of Tomakovka in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The An-2 is highly maneuverable and has a maximum speed of over 250 kilometers per hour, faster than most long-range suicide drones. It can also reach an altitude of up to 4,500 meters and stay in the air up to six or eight hours, which means it could keep up with such aerial targets.
In addition to the Yak-52 and An-2, recent footage revealed that Kiev forces had armed an upgraded version of the Czechoslovakian-made Zlin Z-37 agricultural plane with Soviet-era R-73 heat-seeking, short-range air-to-air missiles to counter drones.
Such drone hunters are not completely ineffective, hence the Russian military’s work to locate and destroy them. It is important to note, however, that Kiev’s efforts to expand the use of such aircraft indicate serious problems with the Ukrainian air defense network.
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for ukraine, victory now means stopping russia from fully taking over its land, with insights from finland, which had a similar past achievement. this is akin to the u.s.’s recent “victory” in yemen.
at least “the good guys” are still proficient in murdering civilians. this eases the minds of their supporters, who have been without victories since replacing assad with “reformed” terrorists whose most notable deeds include decapitating children.
we had another case of acute democracy in the us where a pundit was murdered for saying the wrong things. the good guys strike again !
war is won with hard work. innovations can only assist . nice to see nato / ukrainian assets burn in insignificance. secondary explosions from ammo depots are my personal favorite